Sail

ABSTRACT

A sail  100  includes: a top outhaul  1;  a bottom outhaul  3;  a groove  4  extending perpendicularly and attachable to a groove portion  61  formed in furling gear  6;  and two swelling portions  100   a  and  100   b  on both sides of the groove  4.  When a sailboat is under sail, the swelling portions  100   a  and  100   b  are spread and usable in a following wind, while the swelling portions  100   a  and  100   b  are folded along the groove  4  and usable as a jib in a head wind or a beam wind. The top outhaul  1  and the bottom outhaul  3  are connected to the furling gear  6  and the groove  4  is attached to the furling gear  6,  and thereby, the furling gear  6  furls and unfurls the swelling portions  100   a  and  100   b.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a sail which is capable of serving bothas a sail (jib) used in a head wind or a beam wind and a following-windexclusive sail (spinnaker) to thereby save troublesome sail-exchangingwork, making a spinnaker run easily even in sailing alone(single-handed), reducing the sail area using furling gear provided inan ordinary sailboat even in the middle of sailing, and folding neatlywith furled up to thereby protect the sail surfaces.

2. Description of the Background Art

In conventional sailing, a jib and a spinnaker of a sailboat had to beexchanged according to the wind direction (refer to U.S. PatentPublication No. 3828711), thereby requiring complicated work to hoist aspinnaker and making it difficult to handle the sail. In order to avoidthis, an undertrained crew had to keep using a jib even in a followingwind and sail at a low speed. Especially, it was extremely hard for asingle-handed crew to exchange a jib for a spinnaker to sail in afollowing wind.

As described in U.S. Patent Publication No. 3828711, a sail similar tothe sail according to the present invention has been devised, but thesail does not have a shape designed to furl the sail by furling gear andthereby reduce the sail area in a strong wind or the like. Besides, thesail is not supposed to be completely furled neatly and protected atanchor or the like. Consequently, the sail is impracticable and unusedon the sea where the weather tends to be unsettled.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to solve the aboveproblems and hence provide a sail capable of serving by itself both as aspinnaker and a jib.

In order to solve the problems, a sail according to the presentinvention which is used for sailing a sailboat, includes: at least onetop outhaul arranged in an upper-end part thereof; at least one bottomouthaul arranged in a lower-end part thereof; a groove extendingperpendicularly on the line connecting the top outhaul and the bottomouthaul, the groove being attachable to a groove portion formed infurling gear provided in the sailboat; and two swelling portionsarranged on both sides of the groove, in which when the sailboat isunder sail, the swelling portions are spread and usable in a followingwind, when the sailboat is under sail, the swelling portions are foldedalong the groove and usable as a jib in a head wind or a beam wind, andthe top outhaul and the bottom outhaul are connected to the furling gearand the groove is attached to the furling gear, and thereby, the furlinggear furls and unfurls the swelling portions.

In the sail according to the present invention, when the sailboat isunder sail, the sail is spread in a following wind and is usable as aspinnaker, while the sail is folded along the groove in a head wind or abeam wind and is usable as a jib.

According to the present invention, there is no need to exchange a jiband a spinnaker in accordance with the wind direction, thereby savingthe complicated work of hoisting a spinnaker or the like. Specifically,in a following wind, the sailboat sails with the sail spread out, and ifthe sailboat veers and sails in a head wind or a beam wind, then thesail is naturally folded along the groove and takes the same form as aconventional jib. If the wind direction turns to a following wind again,the sail is spread again and takes the same form as a spinnaker.Furthermore, it is unnecessary to make a sail exchange, and hence, whenit turns to a following wind, even a single-handed crew can make aspinnaker run easily regardless of the degree of skill.

In addition, the top outhaul, the bottom outhaul and the groove areattached to the furling gear to thereby fix the sail securely to thefurling gear. Therefore, the folded-down parts of the sail can beprevented from slipping each other in a beam wind or the like.

Furthermore, the sail is folded along the groove and furled from thegroove by the furling gear. Therefore, the sail can be protected fromultraviolet rays, a salty-and-moist sea wind or the like, therebyenabling the sailboat to stay at anchor for a long time with the sailfurled up.

Moreover, the swelling portion has a lower edge part bulging upward inan arc, thereby when the sailboat is under sail, preventing the swellingportion (the lower edge part of the sail) from interrupting a view aheadof the sail, and hence, certainly securing the front view.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a front view showing the whole of a sail according to a firstembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view showing the sail folded in a head wind or a beamwind.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the sail when a sailboat sails in afollowing wind.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the sail when the sailboat sails ina head wind or a beam wind.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing how to use furling gear in afollowing wind.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing how to use the furling gear in a headwind or a beam wind.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view showing how to use the furling gear in astrong following wind.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing the sail furled and reduced in sizewhen the sailboat sails in a strong head wind or beam wind.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing the sail furled and reduced in sizewhen the sailboat sails in a strong following wind.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing how to use the furling gear.

FIG. 11 is an enlarged perspective view showing a lower part of thefurling gear.

FIG. 12 is an enlarged perspective view showing an upper part of thefurling gear.

FIG. 13 is a perspective view showing the sail furled.

FIG. 14 is a front view showing the whole of a sail according to asecond embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a front view showing the whole of a sail according to a thirdembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 16 is a perspective view showing the sail hoisted high when thesailboat sails in a following wind.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Embodiments of the present invention will be below described withreference to the drawings.

First Embodiment

FIGS. 1 to 13 show a first embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, a sail 100 is used for sailing a sailboat hull 7 andhas the shape of a sheet corresponding to two conventional jibs eachlaterally arranged. The sail 100 includes: at least one top outhaul 1arranged in an upper-end part thereof; at least one bottom outhaul 3arranged in a lower-end part thereof; a groove 4 extendingperpendicularly on the line connecting the top outhaul 1 and the bottomouthaul 3, the groove 4 being attachable to a groove portion 61 formedin furling gear 6 provided in the sailboat hull 7; and two swellingportions 100 a and 100 b arranged on both sides of the groove 4. Asshown in FIG. 2, the swelling portions 100 a and 100 b of the sail 100are symmetrical with respect to the groove 4 and each have asubstantially triangular shape. The lower edge part of each of theswelling portions 100 a and 100 b is curved toward the upside (inside)of the sail 100 and located upward (inward) from the line connecting aclew outhaul 2 (described later) and the bottom outhaul 3. When thesailboat hull 7 is under sail, as shown in FIG. 3, the sail 100 isspread in a following wind and is usable as a spinnaker. On the otherhand, when the sailboat hull 7 is under sail, as shown in FIG. 4, thesail 100 is folded along the groove 4 in a head wind or a beam wind andis usable as a jib. As shown in FIG. 13, when the sail 100 is foldedalong the groove 4 and furled from the side of the groove 4 with the oneswelling portion 100 b located outside, the periphery of the sail 100corresponds to a cover attachment portion for attaching a sailprotective cover. The sail protective cover is made of fiber having aprotection effect against ultraviolet rays and is adhesively attachableto the cover attachment portion. In addition, the sail 100 includes atop outhaul 1 above the groove 4, a bottom outhaul 3 below the groove 4and a clew outhaul 2 arranged in a side-end part of each of the swellingportions 100 a and 100 b.

The top outhaul 1 and the bottom outhaul 3 are attached to furling gear6, and as described later, the furling gear 6 can furl the sail 100. Theclew outhauls 2 are each attached to a jib sheet (sail handling ropewhich will be below called the “rope”) 5.

As shown in FIG. 1, the groove 4 is formed along the line connecting thetop outhaul 1 and the bottom outhaul 3 on the outside surface (frontsurface in the heading direction) of the sail 100. As shown in FIGS. 5to 7, the groove 4 is an edged part of the sail 100 whichperpendicularly extends convexly and is attachable to the groove portion61 formed in the furling gear 6 arranged in the sailboat hull 7. In thisembodiment, the groove 20 is fixed to the furling gear 6.

Next, how to use the thus configured sail 100 will be described.

First, a description will be given about how to attach the sail 100 tothe furling gear 6. The top outhaul 1, the bottom outhaul 3 and thegroove 4 of the sail 100 are attached to the furling gear 6 while theropes 5 are attached to the clew outhauls 2. The sailboat hull 7 sailswith the sail 100 attached to the furling gear 6 in this manner.

In a following wind, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 5, the sail 100 islaterally spread and sends the sailboat hull 7 sailing in the same formas a spinnaker. If the sailboat hull 7 is veering to windward, as shownin FIG. 4, the rope 5 on the leeward side is pulled and the rope 5 onthe windward side is loosened, then the sail 100 is naturally folded.Then, if the sailboat hull 7 veers and sails in a head wind or a beamwind, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 6, the sail 100 is naturally folded alongthe groove 4 and takes the same form as a conventional jib. If thesailboat hull 7 veers again and sails in a following wind, the sail 100begins to be spread in the following wind, and as shown in FIGS. 3 and5, the sail 100 is spread. At this time, even though the rope 5 needhardly be handled, the rope 5 on the side where the sail 100 has swollenout is slightly pulled to thereby send the wind to the opposite side ofthe sail 100 and spread the sail 100 smoothly.

Sequentially, how to furl the sail 100 will be described.

If the lift exerted on the sail 100 in a strong wind needs to belowered, if the sailboat hull 7 lies at anchor or in another such case,then as shown in FIGS. 7 to 9, the furling gear 6 furls the sail 100 tothereby reduce the area thereof. At this time, as shown in FIG. 10, arope 12 of the furling gear 6 is pulled to thereby furl the sail 100 andreduce the area thereof. As shown in FIG. 11, the lower-end part of thesail 100 is fixed to a drum 6 a of the furling gear 6 with the rope 9fixed to the bottom outhaul 3 of the sail 100. As shown in FIG. 12, theupper-end part of the sail 100 is furled by a rotation of a furl portion6 b. Hence, if the rope 12 wound onto the drum 6 a is pulled, the drum 6a and the furl portion 6 b are rotated to thereby furl the sail 100. Ifthe sail 100 is completely furled, as shown in FIG. 13, the coverattachment portion covers the periphery thereof. In other words, theperiphery of the furled part of the sail 100 is covered in a sailprotective cover. A pulling-up portion 6 c is used for pulling the sail100 upward and pulls up the sail 100 strongly to thereby apply tensionbetween the top outhaul 1 and the bottom outhaul 3.

As described so far, according to the sail 100, there is no need toexchange a jib used in a head wind or a beam wind and a spinnaker usedin a following wind in accordance with the wind direction, therebysaving complicated work such as hoisting a spinnaker or the like.Specifically, in a following wind, the sailboat hull 7 sails with thesail 100 spread out, and hence, the sailboat hull 7 can sail fast enoughwith the sail 100 swollen out on both sides of the groove 4. If thesailboat hull 7 veers and sails in a head wind or a beam wind, then thesail 100 is folded along the groove 4 attached to the groove portion 61of the furling gear 6 and takes the same form as a conventional jib. Ifthe wind direction turns to a following wind again, the sail 100 isnaturally spread laterally and takes the same form as a spinnaker. Inthis process, a crew does not need to do the complicated work for thesail 100. Furthermore, it is unnecessary to make a sail exchange, andhence, when the wind direction turns to a following wind, even asingle-handed crew can make a spinnaker run easily regardless of thedegree of skill. In addition, the sail 100 is folded and doubled andthereby becomes stronger, so that it can be thinned. Then, the sail 100is thinned and thereby has the same advantages as a conventionalspinnaker.

Furthermore, the lower part of the sail 100 is supported at the threepoints of the two clew outhauls 2 and the bottom outhaul 3, and further,the groove 4 is fixed to the groove portion 61 of the furling gear 6.This makes it possible to prevent the sail 100 from crushing and realizestable sailing. A conventional spinnaker is triangular, has only twosupporting points in the lower part and is unstable, requiring that aspinnaker pole should be bridged from a mast to the spinnaker to therebystabilize the spinnaker and then spread it. However, the sail 100 issupported at the three points and stable, and hence, there is no needfor a spinnaker pole. Therefore, work on board can be significantlylightened, thereby making the sailing far more comfortable and safer.

Moreover, the top outhaul 1, the bottom outhaul 3 and the groove 4 areattached to the furling gear 6, and this simple configuration allows thesail 100 to be laterally folded when furled up and generate frictionbetween the inside surfaces of the folded sail 100, thereby facilitatingthe furling. Therefore, in a head or beam wind or in a strong followingwind, the furling gear 6 furls the sail 100 swiftly to thereby reducethe area thereof. Hence, regardless of the wind direction or the windspeed, the sailboat hull 7 can sail simply and stably with the singlesail 100. In other words, a sailboat can be easily sailed in alldirections, so that the sailboat can be handled even more easily.Besides, using the top outhaul 1, the bottom outhaul 3 and the groove 4,the sail 100 can be attached to the furling gear 6, thereby savingaltering the existing furling gear 6 and facilitating the introductionthereof.

In addition, the groove 4 is attached to the groove portion 61 of thefurling gear 6, and thereby, after the sail 100 has been folded alongthe groove 4, the sail 100 can be kept folded without any slip of thecrease thereof. Therefore, the shape of the sail 100 stabilizes tothereby enable the sailboat hull 7 to sail stably. Besides, the groove 4is attached to the furling gear 6 to thereby allow the furling gear 6 tofurl and unfurl the sail 100 with ease.

Furthermore, when the sail 100 is furled up, the sail 100 is foldedalong the groove 4, the cover attachment portion is placed outside, thesail is furled from the side of the groove 4, and the cover attachmentportion provided with a protective cover covers the periphery thereof.As a result, with the sail 100 kept furled up, the cover attachmentportion provided with the protective cover is placed outside. Therefore,the sail can be protected from ultraviolet rays, a salty-and-moist seawind or the like, thereby allowing the sailboat hull 7 to stay at anchorfor a long time with the sail 100 attached thereto.

Moreover, the lower edge parts of the swelling portions 100 a and 100 bof the sail 100 are bulged upward in an arc. Therefore, when thesailboat is under sail, the lower edge parts of the sail can beprevented from interrupting a view ahead of the sail, thereby certainlysecuring the front view.

As described so far, the sail 100 includes the top outhaul 1, the clewouthauls 2, the bottom outhaul 3 and the groove 4. Therefore, althoughthe sail 100 has a shape different from a conventional jib or spinnaker,it can be employed using existing gear and equipment of the sailboathull 7 and easily handled by a crew regardless of the degree of skill.Conventionally, there has been a kite-type sail, but it is made ofextremely thin cloth such as parachute texture and is not supposed atall to be furled by furling gear or used as a jib requiring a specifiedstrength. In contrast, the sail 100 can be used together with thefurling gear 6 and also used as a jib.

Second Embodiment

FIG. 14 shows a second embodiment of the present invention. A sail 110according to the second embodiment differs in the shape of the loweredge part thereof from the first embodiment, but otherwise it is thesame. Hence, the component elements are given the same referencecharacters and numerals as those of the first embodiment, as long as theformer are identical to the latter, and their description is omitted.

The lower edge part of the sail 110 is formed with the straight linesconnecting the clew outhauls 2 and the bottom outhaul 3. Hence, the sail110 includes swelling portions 110 a and 110 b each enclosed withstraight lines as the periphery thereof and having a substantiallytriangular shape symmetrical with respect to the groove 4.

The thus-configured sail 110 has substantially straight lines as theperiphery and thereby can be more easily machined.

Third Embodiment

FIG. 15 shows a third embodiment of the present invention. A sail 120according to the third embodiment is provided with slits 120 c and 120 dabove and below the groove 4 respectively and differs in the shape ofthe lower edge part thereof from the first embodiment, but otherwise itis the same.

The sail 120 includes swelling portions 120 a and 120 b divided by thegroove 4 and the slits 120 c and 120 d. The swelling portions 120 a and120 b are each provided with the top outhaul 1 on the upside thereof andthe bottom outhaul 3 on the downside thereof. In other words, the sail120 includes the two top outhauls 1 in an upper-end part thereof and thetwo bottom outhauls 3 in a lower-end part thereof.

Hence, the sail 120 includes the top outhauls 1 and the bottom outhauls3 in the upper-end and lower-end parts, respectively, of the swellingportions 120 a and 120 b. Therefore, the sail 120 can be securely fixedto the furling gear 6 and thereby prevented from slipping out of placeeven in a strong wind.

Hereinbefore, the embodiments of the present invention have beendescribed, but without departing from the scope of the presentinvention, variations or the like in design should be included in thepresent invention. For example, the groove 4 does not always need tohave substantially the full length of the straight line connecting thetop outhaul 1 and the bottom outhaul 3. Below the top outhaul 1 andabove the bottom outhaul 3, grooves each shorter than the full lengthmay be provided. Further, the groove 4 maybe attached to the grooveportion 61 of the furling gear 6 with the furling gear 6 kept turned byan angle of substantially 180° such that the groove 4 lies on theoutside surface (front surface in the heading direction) of the sail100. In this case, when the sailboat hull 7 sails in a following wind,the sail 100 is extended outside of the furling gear 6 and spread out.

In addition, if the sail 100 does not need to be furled up when thesailboat hull 7 is under sail or in another such case, as shown in FIG.13, then without attaching the groove 4 to the furling gear 6, thebottom outhaul 3 may be attached to a bottom-outhaul sheet (rope) 9 andthe length of the rope 9 can be adjusted to thereby adjust the heightfrom the sea surface of the lower-end part of the sail 100. In thiscase, even in a following wind from right behind, the sail 100 can behoisted higher only by paying out the rope 9, thereby accelerating thesailboat hull 7 without complicated work and facilitating the sailing.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

Although a similar sail has been devised, the sail does not have a shapedesigned to furl the sail by furling gear and thereby reduce the sailarea in a strong wind or the like. Besides, the sail is not supposed tobe completely furled neatly and protected at anchor or the like, andhence, the sail is impracticable and unused. In contrast, the sailaccording to the present invention can be easily attached to existingfurling gear and the sail is capable of solving the above problemssimply, thereby contributing toward widening the navigation range orsailable wind range of a sailboat and promoting the marine industry.

1. A sail used for sailing a sailboat, wherein: the sail is a singlesheet corresponding to two right and left jibs hoisted in a front partof the sailboat; the sail includes a top outhaul 1, two right and leftclew outhauls 2, a bottom outhaul 3, and a groove 4 formed on theperpendicular line between the top outhaul 1 and the bottom outhaul 3and used for fastening the sail to furling gear; the sail is neatlyfolded with furled up by the furling gear arranged in the sailboat; thesail is substantially rhombic, is laterally spread in a following windand is usable as a following-wind exclusive sail; and the sail isnaturally neatly folded laterally in a head wind or a beam wind and isusable like a jib.
 2. A sail used for sailing a sailboat, comprising: atleast one top outhaul arranged in an upper-end part thereof; at leastone bottom outhaul arranged in a lower-end part thereof; a grooveextending perpendicularly on the line connecting the top outhaul and thebottom outhaul, the groove being attachable to a groove portion formedin furling gear provided in the sailboat; and two swelling portionsarranged on both sides of the groove, wherein when the sailboat is undersail, the swelling portions are spread and usable in a following wind,when the sailboat is under sail, the swelling portions are folded alongthe groove and usable as a jib in a head wind or a beam wind, and thetop outhaul and the bottom outhaul are connected to the furling gear andthe groove is attached to the furling gear, and thereby, the furlinggear furls and unfurls the swelling portions.
 3. The sail according toclaim 2, wherein the swelling portion has a lower edge part curvedupward.